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Queensland Police say it is a crime for anyone to even watch a
viral video of a man swinging a baby around a room.

Chris Illingworth, 60, a father of four from Maroochydore, was
charged after he posted the video, which he stumbled across on
YouTube, on an internet site.

The video, which shows the man swinging the baby by
the arms, was broadcast on US television and has been viewed by
hundreds of thousands of people online.

Illingworth's home was raided after he posted the clip on
Liveleak. He was charged with using the internet to access and
publish child-abuse material.

The charge has proven controversial because the baby -
reportedly part of a Russian circus family - is shown laughing and
smiling at the end of the clip.

Online rights activists and academics say the case has
far-reaching implications for individuals sharing content online,
as it is now clear they can be held just as liable as traditional
publishers.

Online users' lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA)
has contacted Illingworth to provide him with help in fighting his
case.

EFA vice-chairman Colin Jacobs said the law was a blunt
instrument and no blunter than when applied to the internet.

"Any internet user could stumble upon these sorts of 'viral
videos', which are a far cry from the organised child abusers
against whom the laws are targeted," he said.

"I think that now Australians could justifiably feel very afraid
that casual internet use might bring the police to their door."

Australian laws concerning the publication of such material are
far stricter than in many other countries.

Here, news stations have shown only the beginning and end of the
clip, while this website has been advised by lawyers not to show
any of the clip at all.

In a statement, Queensland Police said the term "child-abuse
material" even extended to clips in which a child "appears" to
be a victim of cruelty.

The clip, criticised by child-welfare advocates because of how
vigorously the man swings the baby, was created without any
involvement of Illingworth, who has published hundreds of other
clips on the Liveleak site.

Queensland Police from the anti-pedophile squad Task Force Argos
raided Illingworth's home on November 30. He was subjected to a
thorough forensic examination of his home and office computers and
a gruelling interview over several hours, complete with
fingerprinting and mug shots.

Asked to respond to claims by Illingworth that he was targeted
unnecessarily and unfairly labelled a child abuser, Queensland
Police said it was a crime "to participate in the exploitation and
abuse of children by seeking to view, possess, make or distribute
child-abuse or child exploitation material".

It provided a definition of "child-abuse material", which was
any material that shows a person under the age of 18 who "is, or
appears to be, a victim of torture, cruelty or physical abuse".

"Task Force Argos are continuing to work with international law
enforcement partners to identify the child depicted in the video
clip to remove him or her from further harm," Queensland Police
said.

David Vaile, executive director of the University of NSW's
Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, agreed with Queensland Police but
said many people were not aware that they could be held liable for
content they republished online.

"If something you upload and republish on the internet is a
video of what appears to be abuse of a child, you can't be that
surprised when it is caught by laws trying to suppress the
publication and distribution of 'child-abuse material'," he
said.

"Publishing capability has been democratised and decentralised,
but so has liability and responsibility."

Illingworth, whose reputation has been tarnished after the
incident was featured in a story in his local Sunshine Coast
Daily newspaper, said he was meeting his MP, Peter Slipper,
this afternoon in an attempt to pressure police to drop the
charges.

Illingworth said it was unfair that he was being labelled a
child abuser over a video he didn't make, when the late Steve Irwin
was let off for dangling his baby near the open jaws of a
crocodile.

Earlier this week, Illingworth said that since being charged he
could not eat, sleep or work and was worried his children and
people in the local community would think he was a pedophile.

"I've had to go down to the hospital. My blood pressure is
160/108 and I'm on blood pressure pills and valium - all because of
this," he said.

"Do they realise what pain they put someone through? I could
fall over dead over this. I can't even get the office work done.
I'm just a zombie."